Healing Wounds
by babyscope
Summary: Leah has been murdered, and Bran has been left alone. The beast inside of him has become restless and that's a danger to both the Marrok and his pack. Will he be able to find a mate in a submissive who fears dominant males? How can the fear be removed?
1. Chapter 1

**Hallo all of the people who like my writing! I should really be working on more chapters of my other works but! I adore this series and I absolutely HAD to write about it!**

**Oh, and sorry to all of those who liked Leah... I didn't really but hey, to each their own!**

**I do not own the Mercy Thomson series or the Alpha and Omega Series! Those are totally Patricia Briggs! I do however own my own characters!**

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"I almost can't believe that you brought him here..." Bran sighed and spun around in the small chair that the doctors often used when examining a patient. He seemed completely harmless, but Anna knew better, and so did the rest of the wolves in the room.

"Well what else was I supposed to do?" Anna asked with a stubborn glare at her mate, who was staring at the male that laid in the hospital bed.

"Not bring him to the hospital..." His voice was a low growl. Bran just continued to spin.

"Well _sorry_. I was kind of options. Besides-"

"Is Samuel on his way?" Bran asked out of the blue, his eyes closed to hide the beast that was roused at the smell of blood. And there was a lot of blood. Charlies took his attention away and shook his head.

"He's caught up in something more important he said. But he's sending someone else to take care of everything."

"Does he know of another doctor that can handle a wounded werewolf?" The Marrok asked, his shoulder visibly shaking. His control had faltered ever since his last mate, Leah, died. It's not that he'd actually liked her as a person, or liked her at all in general, but she kept his Beast in footsteps approached and the smell of foreign werewolf made his eyes snap open and they all looked toward the door which opened with a soft pop.

"Yes he does." Samuel grunted as he walked in.

"I thought you couldn't come."

"I'm not staying long. I just had to show her the way here." He huffed, his eyes giving away how tired he was, and how hard he was trying not to show it. Anna felt bad.

"Even though I told him that I could handle it." A young looking woman huffed and pushed Samuel into the room a little more so she could wiggle past him to see what she was up against. Her bright blue eyes scanned the room, though she was careful not to meet any of the dominant male's eyes. She wasn't stupid.

"Da, Charles, Anna, this is Candice Michel's. Candice this is-"

"Don't belittle my knowledge please Samuel, I know the Marrok, his other son and that son's mate by sight." She looked over at Anna and smiled, feeling like she was the only one that could be looked at without testing their patience.

"And you can call me Candi, everyone does." It wasn't like she particularly liked the nickname, it just happened to stick. Anna gave her a warm smile and a nod.

"You can call me Anna." She said pleasantly and looked over at Charles hesitantly, who was making a point not to look at the new werewolf who just entered the room. Anna rolled her eyes and looked over at the woman to really get a good look at her, since that was why she was holding so still.

Candice looked like a mix of Spanish and French. She was about Anna's height and build. Her hair was black as onyx and pulled back into a professional braid. Her eyes were a bright blue color, her skin was tan and her accent, clearly French. All in all at first glimpse, Anna liked her. When Anna noticed that the woman had started sweating, however Anna looked away to see Bran looking over her with his bright wolf eyes. _Trying to hold back her fear_ Anna thought with a frown.

After a couple more minutes Bran looked away and Candi let out a silent breath of relief, her body relaxing visibly. Or was it only visible because of her wolf senses? Deciding that answer was unimportant she watched as the woman in the doctor's coat walk over to the bleeding wolf who smelled all too much like silver. There was something in the way that she moved that was off from what she usually saw. As if he caught her confused look Charles gave a knowing smirk. After Anna returned a glare his grin widened, but he elaborated in a hushed tone.

"She's a submissive, and what she did to Samuel was just a friendly gesture. She trusts him."

"So that was just a show?" Anna asked in surprise and looked up to see that Samuel had disappeared.

"Sort of. It was more her knowing that she was safe. The way Samuel reacted showed that she is his ally, and currently under his protection. Now that Samuel's gone, she feel unprotected, especially under the Marrok's gaze." Candi was busying herself with the patient pretending to not hear what they were saying. Anna frowned, suddenly glad she wasn't a submissive.

"Submissive wolves don't threaten the dominant males and they give them dominants the urge to protect them." Charles continued. "Normally they feel protected in their pack, but it seems that-"

"I have a pack." Candi said quietly as she checked his IV before clicking her tongue lightly. "Samuel's taking care of me just fine."

Charlies gave a wolfish grin. "Apparently we make her uncomfortable Da." He said looking over at his father.

Before Bran would reply the comment, the machine beside the bed started beeping wildly and the wolf's eyes shot open. Before she could get out of his reach the wolf grabbed hold of Candi's wrist and flashed fang. He was changing. And Candi was in danger. Before Anna could blink both Charles and Bran were over there removing the wolf's hand from the doctor. The second the two dominant males were near her, Anna could smell Candi's fear and panic. Not a good thing to reveal if you're a dominant, but she was submissive, right? So that must have meant that they felt like they had to protect her more. Anna suddenly felt a bit jealous, but she knew that she mattered more to Charles than she did. After all, he was just using his instincts.

The second that Charles broke Candi free she was flying out the door. Anna thought she was running but before she could say anything the woman appeared again holding a syringe full of an opaque white liquid.

"Hold him." Candi said firmly as she took a couple of steps toward him. Anna could hear the popping of bones as the Wolf shifted more. Cringing she looked away, so the next thing she knew the injured beast was laying on the hospital bed out cold still changing into his wolf. Bran was gripping the wolf in a fashion that if he just twitched his wrist he could break the beasts neck, and he wasn't letting go. Charles' face was unreadable.

"Da... Da let him go. He's no longer a threat." Candi took a couple of involuntary steps toward Anna who stood up and strode past her, touching her arm gently. Anna could feel the girl relax within milliseconds so she made her way toward the Marrok, forcing herself to be calm. If she wasn't calm, there would be no calm to give.

"Bran." She said softly standing next to him. "It's alright." Anna touched his arm and he stiffened more. It took a couple of minutes before Bran finally loosened his grip and let his arms fall to his side. Charles sighed and shook his head. He knew that the Marrok was too out of control. After a couple minutes more there were only two strong smells in the room. The main one was pain. That other wolf was in an extreme amount of pain and Anna wanted to soothe him, but she knew she couldn't. The second was, Anna assumed was, fear. It bit at her nose almost painfully and slowly her attention was turned toward Candi.

The woman looked calm on the outside, everything but her eyes and her tense muscles. She was afraid of Bran and Charles, but mainly Bran. Anna heard heavy steps running toward the room and Samuel burst in the room, taking everything in at once.

"I felt Da's power..." His voice trailed off when he took in Candi. He relaxed his shoulders, trying to seem calm for her, to relax her. "Candi..."

"I'm fine." She said quickly. Lie. Samuel frowned.

"You should know better than to lie to me. Go to the Storage room and cool off. I'll handle everything here."

"But-" Samuel looked her in the eyes and she immediately looked away.

"Go." Anna knew that was an order and immediately the other woman turned around and left the room in hurried steps. She was terrified. Bran remained silent but everyone knew how little control he had, and that was dangerous. With carefully planned steps he moved back over to the rolling chair and started to spin again. Charles took a seat closer to him this time and Anna was sitting close to Charles. Samuel shook his head and started to remove the silver bullet from the injured wolf.

The silence dragged on for an hour or so until Samuel knew he had to take a break.

"I'm surprised that he's still alive." Samuel said with a huff as he sat down.

"I was too." Charles said with a nod. Both of them were trying to avoid an unavoidable talk, and both Anna and Bran knew it. After a couple more idle words, it happened.

"Da..." Samuel said slowly to get his attention.

"I know." Bran said simply.

"Da you have to -" Charles started. Both of his son's were worried.

Bran moved to his feet and shook his head. "I will not talk about this." He said simply and strode out of the room. Silence loomed.

"Why did you send a submissive in here?" Charles asked simply, his business face on.

"She's dead afraid of almost all Dominant male wolves. She won't talk about it and I won't push it. I didn't know this problem was as serious or that Da was as close to the edge as he was. If I knew that was going to happen..." Samuel shook his head.

"He needs a new mate." Anna said airily and both males stared at her. "What?"

"I wasn't expecting..." Anna raised an eyebrow.

"What? That I knew what you guys were going to talk about? I have ears. I hear you and Charles on the phone mumbling about it. And I agree with you."

"Ever since Leah died he's been getting worse."

"I thought he didn't like Leah?" Anna certainly knew that she didn't. Standing up, Samuel moved back over to the patient and started working again.

"He didn't, but she was necessary." Charles said and leaned back, closing his eyes. With that, the conversation was ended.

-Candice-

Candi pressed her hands against the wall firmly to steady herself, her breathing labored and shaky. She wasn't expecting the Marrok to be in the room that Samuel told her that she needed to help out in. She wasn't expecting Charles either, and she was very successful in hiding that surprise. Her fear, however, she wasn't capable of hiding at all. Dominant wolves scared her. The males in her family... Shaking her head she pressed her forehead against the wall as well. She was sweating from the fear, and she hated how sweat smelled. Distracting herself with her own smell she announced silently that she had to take a shower as soon as she was able. Turning away from the wall she pressed her back against it and slowly slid down it so sit on the floor.

When she first met Samuel, when she was transferred to his hospital, she tried avoiding him at all costs. He was dominant and she could feel it throughout the entire hospital. Unfortunately, he knew what she was trying to do and immediately talked to her about it. He was... nice, and after a few short talks they started getting longer and she grew more and more comfortable with him. That was how he found out that she was a Lone Wolf. Submissive wolves and lone wolf don't go in the same sentence unless there's a don't in between them. It's impossible for a Submissive to last outside of a pack because that was just who they were. Samuel ended up telling Adam about her and she was taken into his pack as a submissive, though Candi only considered Samuel her pack, even though he wasn't anywhere near being so.

_Wait, why is the Marrok even here?_ She asked herself silently then went very still. She heard footsteps coming directly for her and they were already in the room. Something metallic shone as it moved through the shadows. She could taste it's blood lust and just before it attacked, the door opened. The smell faded immediately and she let out a breath before looking up to see who just saved her life. Her eyes went wide at the sight of the Marrok.

With a sharp intake of breath she bowed her head and scrambled to her feet.

"Are you alright?"

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**DUN DUN! Sorry guys. It's kinda short but hey, I liked it!**

**Got a problem? Go away then!**

**Give me feedback people! I like feedback, and if you want to give ideas, I'm good with that too!**


	2. Chapter 2 : Leah's Demise

I'm back!

Because of all of you wonderful people who reviewed and loved me I am back to give you chapter 2; Leah's end! Then I shall continue on.

Hope you like it ~

This back story was written with my friend Nabakza

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_Fourteen Years Ago_

_The moon was high in the sky over Aspen Creek as Charles led the pack through the snow covered land. He stopped to sniff at a game trail, trying to hide his discomfort from the others. Leading a Full Moon hunt had never felt like this before. As if there was something sinister lying under the calm, beautiful landscape. Brother Wolf was on full alert, sure that something was off._  
_ He turned, trying to locate Anna in the masses, when fear began rippling through the pack bonds. He spun around and headed toward the other end of the group; all the while hearing the same exclamations in his head. "Leah. It's Leah. She's gone mad!" He raced ahead, noting that most of the fear was centered on the outskirts of the town. _

_ Charles almost forgot that there was an emergency, falling into the easy rhythm of his run, only to be pulled up short by the sight of a rabid looking Leah. Her gold and silver fur dyed dark with blood, and her eyes rolling crazily in their sockets. To a lesser wolf, it might be unnerving to go up against her in this state. But Charles and Brother Wolf were more than capable. And as they closed with her in battle, they didn't flinch once._  
_ One state over, the Marrock sat calmly in the maternity ward waiting room, trying to keep a very agitated pack of werewolves from nervously eating everything in the cafeteria, suddenly felt uneasy._

_ He frowned, focusing on the unrest he felt coming from what seemed to be Aspen Creek. His foot, which had been tapping lightly against the floor, suddenly stopped. His whole body seemed to tense, and he propelled himself up. His eyes were wild for a split second, and then he fell, crumpling to the floor with a resonating thud.  
_

_

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_I know that it's short. I know, but! I like it!_  
_


	3. Chapter 3

Here I am again! Now we're skipping back to the present with Candi and Anna and Bran and all this good drama!

What shall happen next? Well, you shall find out~

There has been some edits to what Candi looks like. This is the last time it shall be edited, but in order to fit the plot she had to looks slightly different with a French accent instead of Spanish. Sorry for the confusion~ Promise it won't happen again.

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"Are you alright?"

The Marrok's words hummed into Candi's ears as she tried to not hyperventilate in fear at seeing the boy-like beast in front of her. What did he want? It didn't make any sense. There was no way that he'd actually gone to see if she was alright. The only nice dominant male that she'd ever met was Samuel so this was beyond fake. It _had_ to be. There was no way that he could be genuine about it. She hesitated in answering. She knew that he was holding back his dominance, and it almost felt like he was a submissive like her, but she knew otherwise, and it unsettled her that he could blend so well with her. Instead of getting impatient with her, he leaned silently into the open doorway and waited for her response as she sized him up, and then her own emotions.

She was shaken up, she knew that she was and she hated that his presence was just making it worse. That wolf that had grabbed her earlier had scared her beyond imagination. She hadn't been expecting him to wake up, let alone grab her. It had been many years since she was grabbed in a threatening way, in any way really, unless Samuel was giving her a hug or comfort for her nightmares. The nightmares had been getting rarer and rarer since he showed up in her life, but they weren't gone, and she wasn't even sure that they would ever truly be gone. After all, it's nearly impossible to get rid of the nightmares that were once reality.

Shaking the scary thoughts out of her head, Candi looked back over at the Marrok and watched him for a few minutes. He was attractive in his own way, no, he was attractive. He had sandy hair and prominent features. His eyes were gorgeous too, well, when they were open. They looked a lot like Samuel's eyes and she loved Samuel's eyes. The piercing blue was captivating and alluring, and at the same time incredibly... calming. Pulling her eyes away from him she forced herself to try and remember that he was dangerous. It was the fact that he felt so innocent at that moment that was giving her courage to look at him, and she knew that it was a bad idea so she stopped. Candi couldn't help but steal another small glance at him, and in the dark it looked like he was smirking.

"Been better." She said slowly and leaned back against the wall, letting her body slowly slide down it. She had been better, but when.

"I apologize for earlier." Candi shivered. "I haven't been myself lately."

Candi took in another sideways glance and he let out a chuckle that lacked any ounce of humor.

"You don't believe me." It wasn't a question, and he wasn't wrong. It wasn't his fault, Candi knew that, but she didn't trust dominants. Instead of insulting him by lying, she remained silent.

"It's very hard having a conversation with yourself you know." Candi's eyes were on the floor and she held her breath, half afraid that he was going to lash out at her. She flinched.

Bran looked down at her as she flinched and immediately he wanted to bend down and reassure her that he meant her no harm. From the way that Samuel responded to her though he believed that would be a very bad idea. Instead he just took a couple steps away from her and leaned on the opposite side of the threshold. She seemed to need space so he was going to give it to her. Letting out another low breath he closed her eyes, keeping his mind clear.

Sure Bran was curious why she was so afraid and he also felt incredibly pissed off because she was an obviously injured submissive werewolf. That meant that there was abuse and that meant that there was some crazy werewolf out there that was attacking harmless submissives. A submissive wolf never brought out a dominants wolves instinct to protect their position in a pack. Submissives didn't threaten a dominant. Quite the opposite. A dominant should feel the need to protect a submissive because they cannot defend themselves.

Flexing his hand a couple of times Bran's hand clenched into a face and he fought with the beast within to keep calm. He couldn't afford to scare the submissive anymore than she already was. His pale eyes settled on her and he raised an eyebrow. She had seemed to relax, though she had turned away from him and her shoulders were hunched over protectively. She really was afraid of him.

They stayed like that as the minutes passed by, the silence both calming and unsettling. Candi was glad that he wasn't attacking her and Bran was content with the fact that she wasn't running from him screaming, and that the beast within wasn't ready to go on a killing rampage.

Not right then anyway.

The time passed by slowly until suddenly Bran heard Anna's heavy footsteps charging toward the storage room. Candi heard them as well but she was obviously not able to tell foot steps apart for each person. It reminded him a lot of the brunette that was running toward them in the most humanly speed as she could muster. Bran smirked at the excitement in her steps and he looked toward the door just as she appeared.

"Bran!" She gasped out and Candi jumped out of the corner of his eye and slowly turned slowly to see what was going on. So she didn't notice him looking at her he turned back to Anna.

"What is it Anna?" He asked, his tone clearly amused.

"Adam, Mercy, Jesse, Gabriel and Travis are here! Jesse's going into labor." Anna looked flushed with excitement and Bran nodded lightly.

"Let's go then."

Candice listened in while Anna told the Marrock that a girl had gone into labor, someone who was close to Samuel. Samuel had talked about Mercy and her family a lot, and of course, his wife as well, but Mercy was one of the fun topics that he brought up once in a while when he had a funny story to tell.

Scrambling in her feet she watched as Bran and Anna disappeared out of sight and suddenly her panic set in again. That smell of metal and blood appeared again and she hurried out of the storage. As soon as she left the room, it followed. Her panic grew and she looked behind her again. Once again all she could see was the shine of metal. Her eyes got big and she started to breathe faster, to the point that she felt light headed. The smell grew closer. Where were the other wolves who had just left her sight? They couldn't have gotten that far. She shut her eyes tightly and she listened as the hospital noises faded.

When Candi's eyes hot open she was surrounded in darkness. It was silent and as she moved her feet made no noise. Panic seized her being as she started sprinting, screaming for Samuel, for someone. The smell burned her nose and she looked around panicked as she saw the flash of metal through the darkness. Staggering back she tripped over something and hit her head causing her vision to blur.

_'You can't hide forever... I will find you... and kill you.'_ The voice echoed and then faded. The darkness faded as she felt someone grab her arms firmly and shake her.

She gulped in air and opened her eyes. The smell lingered and before her vision cleared she thought that it was her worst nightmare coming true. He found her, and he was going to now kill her.

"Candi!" A stern voice called and recognition was slow, but it came; Samuel.

"Samuel?" She asked, her throat painfully dry. What had just happened. The smell faded and she was left feeling dazed, staring up at Samuel who had a worried look on his face.

"Are you alright?" He asked slowly, obviously unsure whether or not she could understand him at all.

"What happened?" Candi asked dazed and she reached up and touched her own face and felt blood. Her head throbbed.

"When Bran and Anna showed up without you, I came to find you, and when I did, you, you were passed out on the floor bleeding from a cut on your head." Candi didn't remember hitting her head on anything. Did that thing get to her! Panic seized her and she gripped Samuel's shirt and he immediately pulled her close to try and make her feel safe. his scent surrounded her and she started to relax, but the worry that it had got to her didn't leave. The blood did explain why she continued to smell the blood from that phantom though.

"Come on. Let's go get you cleaned up." Sam said and helped her stand. Surprisingly no nurses had passed down the hall that she knew of. Maybe it was because they didn't realize she was there? It was probably because the hall wasn't really used all that much.

Samuel led Candi into a vacant room and started stitching up her head. The cut must have been worse than she'd thought. After that he forced her into some Scrubs and after making sure she was clear of blood and she could function properly, he led her to the room where everyone was waiting outside of because a baby was being born on the other side.

Just as Samuel pushed open the door a baby started to cry. Candi looked to the side of him to see the baby and she felt a pang of loss, of misery. She wasn't in any shape to be doing anything and Samuel knew it, but he knew she wanted to see the baby.

"It's cute..." She muttered softly and Samuel nodded, not looking over at her.

"It is."

"Pretty... girl..." She breathed and Samuel didn't even get a chance to turn and catch her as she passed out. Adam beat him to it.

"Adam." Samuel said stiffly as Adam adjusted Candi in his arms. Candi had stayed at Adam's house because she couldn't get her own place most of the time unless she was at Samuel's. Normally Samuel was willing to let this happen, but something was happening with her and he didn't like it.

"I'll take her tonight."

"No. She's wounded and I'll take her." Immediately tempers flared. They were so absorbed in each other that they didn't notice the door open and Mercy and Bran walk in.

"Adam..." Mercy said slowly touching his arm.

"I'll take her then." Bran said calmly and took Candi out of Adam's arms calmly and turned on his heels and walked out of the room.

"Adam..." Mercy said again and started leading him toward the bed where his daughter and her baby girl was. Gabriel was standing next to her flexing his hand, muttering about his wife's tight grip. Samuel seethed before she left the room and passed Mercy's and Adam's thirteen year old son Travis.

Knowing he should just get back to his job he just walked by without looking at the boy who was busy playing some portable gaming device and he got back to his job, knowing that Candi was safe in Bran's care.

At least he hoped so. You never can tell with a wild beast.

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Nothing like finishing a chapter at 4 in the morning. Hope you guys like it! I did it for you!


	4. Chapter 4

HI GUYS! I am soooo sorry that it's taken me this long to start posting again! I have been.. so busy but yay! I graduated high school! :3 Now I'm off to college to be super awesome! Well, I'm totally going to try and post on here more and more and more again because you've all been waiting so patiently and favoriting this story, even now. I'm flattered and I feel that it's about time I got up off of my figurative lazy butt and write more! Wouldn't you agree? :3

I do not own the series, but the characters that are obviously not belonging to the original series, are mine and I claim them all! Buhahahahhahh!

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The first of Candice's senses to return to her as she slowly regained consciousness was her sense of smell. the scent of pine trees was so thick that if it was water, she would have drown in it. An underlying scent to that one was cold, and water. So... it was probably snow that she was smelling. Why would she be in a place that smelled of pine trees and snow? At first it was only confusion that she felt, but when she realized that there was someone, or rather, _someones _in the room, she immediately started to panic. Her eyes shot open, and even though her vision was blurry she scrambled up into a crouching position on all fours, her back hunched up as she pressed her entire body up against the head board hard.

"Whoa there. Calm down, you're safe." The voice was pleasant, light. Slowly her eyes adjusted and the blurriness went away. There were four other people in the room, and all of them looked young, but you could never tell with werewolves. Two of them were girls, and the other two were male. One of them looked like the poster child for a red headed lumberjack, but she didn't dare but glance at him, he was a dominant. The other male was of smaller build and a submissive just like herself. Of course, she let herself look at him a bit longer. Sandy hair with green eyes that looked almost brown, pale skin. He was cute, but she'd never met an ugly werewolf either.

"Where am I?" She choked out before moving a hand up to hold her throat. Her voice was raspy and it hurt to talk. She was dehydrated.

"You're in a cabin, actually." One of the girls answered, the one that she'd seen in the hospital. What was her name again? Candi couldn't seem to remember, but she wasn't surprised. Every time she had one of those visions, the last time she was conscious always ended up being a blur. She could tell one thing though, that girl was an Omega. Rare.

"A cabin...?" Why would she be in a cabin? After all, the last fuzzy thing she remembered was the sound of a baby crying and the smell of blood. She rubbed her neck, but not because she was in pain. It was more because she remembered that vision.. that _thing_ that was ready to kill her.

"Yup!" The other girl spoke this time. She was a dominant too. However, female dominants didn't upset her as much as the males did. It was probably sexist, but it wasn't like she chose it or anything. The girl had blonde hair the color of coffee when you put just a bit too much creamer in it. It even had tones of a darker blond in it, making it look like the coffee wasn't stirred very well. Her eyes were brown.

"Why would I be-"

"Should probably go tell the boss that she's awake." The lumberjack spoke and immediately she was pressed firm up against the wall again. The Omega sighed.

"Go on then Reuben." The Omega was upset with him. Why, she couldn't tell, but she was pretty sure it was because he'd talked. Of course Candice was upset he talked too, but that was because she was afraid. The big man sniffed impatiently and pushed off of the wall and left the room, the door closing with a decided 'click'.

"You really shouldn't be moving around much." There was that light voice again. So, it'd come from the pretty boy. "Come on and lay back down." Carefully he moved closer, to try and reassure her that he wasn't going to do anything. Candi wasn't having any of that. The second that he got close enough to reach out to her, she shuffled backward and ended up falling off of the bed. It was smaller that she expected it to be.

There was a light feminine laugh, it must have been the coffee woman, as the Omega rounded the bed to kneel next to her. Not feeling safe around an Omega was like not breathing.

"It's o.k." The woman reassured and she was eyed cautiously by the French girl.

"Who are you...?" The woman looked surprised and seemed to have been caught off guard. However, the obvious confusion was enough to let them all in the room know that she had no idea who Anna was.

"We met yesterday. I'm Anna..." It was obvious that Anna was itching to ask her why she wasn't remembered, but Candi just shook her head, signalling she wasn't going to tell her. Trust issues after years and years of abuse didn't just go away because there was an Omega in the room, she wasn't stupid. The less she trusted people, the safer she would be... and so would they.

"Well, Tucker is right. You should really rest now. You really hurt your head at the hospital."

That was right. She'd been at work and then she passed out. Everything in between showing up at work and passing out was a bit fuzzy, but she knew it would come back in a day or two. Maybe even in a couple of hours. Timing something like that was really hard.

"How long was I out for?"

"About two days." There was that female's voice again. It was a bit husky, but that was her natural way of speaking from the sounds of it, unlike Candice's own raspy voice.

After a couple minutes of patiently waiting for the girl to accept help up, she was finally ushered back onto the bed. Getting her to lie down, would be impossible. "I'm a doctor." She would just say. "I know when I'm fine enough to sit up. Besides, I have already been resting for two days."

While Anna had been getting Candice to sit back down on the bed, Tucker had apparently gone out of the room and returned with about three bottles of water, which, gratefully, all of them were handed to her. Two of them were gone in a little under a minute and she just held the third one in her hands on her lap. The coolness of the bottle was refreshing. Now werewolves temperatures were a lot hotter than that of a human, but she knew that even for a werewolf, she was running a fever. Was she going to admit it? No.

"How are you feeling?" Anna asked pleasantly, standing a couple of feet away from her right, giving her room so that she felt a bit comfortable.

"Fine." It was a lie, they could all smell that it was a lie, but no one, except the coffee lady (who smirked and rolled her eyes) made any move to tell her that she was lying. Suddenly, two sets of feet were walking toward the bed. The one person's footfalls were significantly louder than the others. If she had been more alert just those few minutes ago she would have known that big foot was Reuben.

"You loud ass." Coffee girl said before they even entered the room.

"Oh, like I haven't heard that before." He replied with a gruff voice. They were bickering, nothing serious, and Candice was still as stiff as a board.

"Reuben." Came a voice from behind the giant man. "Would you mind letting me into the room?"

"Oh... right." Reuben stepped to the side to let in the Marrok himself. He was dressed in ripped jeans and some graphic tee that Candice didn't dare study. Even though he was disguising all of his power, it was obvious who he was, especially because she was sure that she'd been in his presence that day at the hospital. When he looked over at her, Candi felt a bit like crawling under the bed, taking the blanket with her so that she could hide under the bed and have the blanket over her at the same time. Either that or run. However, no one was stupid enough to run from a predator, and if they were, they ended up dead.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, his voice was calm. Silence was his response. "So not good then?" There was no humor there, he sounded too tired for it.

"She said she was fine earlier, but..." Anna started, deciding that it was rude not to give him an answer. Looking from Candice to Anna and then back, Bran slowly reached a hand out to touch her forehead. Before he could though, she visibly flinched. Immediately his hand stopped in mid air and clenched into a fist slowly before falling back to his side.

"Anna, please check for me if she has a temperature." He said, his tone still calm, though it was obvious that his voice was strained. After Anna touched the other girls forehead she nodded lightly.

"She's a bit too warm." She replied in a pleasant voice.

"I'm f-" Candi started before taking a deep breath, her eyes burning holes into her lap. "I'm going to be fine." There, that wasn't a lie. At least, she hoped it wasn't.

"Well," Bran started, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Just to make sure, lets have you stay in bed for another day or so." She didn't want to, but voice that to that Marrok seemed like a really bad idea. She just wanted Samuel to be there so that she didn't feel like a kitten in the middle of a pack of wolves.

"I bet you're hungry!" Tucker said as he reentered the room. She hadn't heard him leave, and that worried her just a bit. He did, however, return with a very rich stew on a tray that made her stomach growl. He laughed lightly and set it on the bed near her, remembering what happened last time that he tried to get too close. She didn't move for it though, she hated being the center of attention, and she was already starting to sweat from that pressure, so the idea of eating in front of all of these people made her feel like a lab rat.

"I think that she should have her alone time and rest up, don't you?" Anna asked pleasantly, heading for the door. The rest of the wolves looked at Bran for an answer. Rolling his shoulders he looked over at Anna and gave a small nod.

"Alright. Come on." He said and walked out of the room, the others following him, though Reuben was the last too leave. Being an outsider was really hard, but being an outsider while you give others the compulsion to always watch and protect you was even harder. He did leave though and just as the door shut she grabbed the stew and ate it as fast as she could. Then, she realized she had to play the 'where the hell did they put my phone' game. Luckily, her lab coat was right next to the bed and the phone was in there. It was only when she noticed that her clothes were folded neatly on a stool next to the bed that she realized where that strong pine smell was coming from. She was wearing someone's sweats, someone who was outside a lot. Her face heated up at the thought of someone changing her, and seeing her scars. Shaking her head she decided that she couldn't, and wouldn't, think about that right then. Instead, she flipped her phone open and speed dialed Sam's cell phone. When that familiar voice answered on the other line, she almost instantly felt safer.

"Hello?"


	5. UPDATE!

YOU GUYS! I'M ALIVE! I know that you guys have been waiting for me to update for something close or passed two years! And I also know that you are all going to get really excited when your e-mail informs you that I have just updated! Well, at the moment I do not have a new chapter up! HOWEVER! I am currently working on a new chapter and I shall put it up within the next couple of days! Thank you all for being so patient with me! I shall get to work and hope that it is to your liking! Just wait and be patient with me pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase. You've waiting for something like two years so please just wait a little longer!


	6. Chapter 5

I. AM. SO. SORRY. YOU. GUYS!

Go figure that my life would just into overdrive. Ugh. Anyway, life's settled down! Guess what that meansssssssss! A NEW CHAPTER! YAY!

You guys are so loyal, I'm so happy that you're still fans for so long after this. I still get notifications that people are adding Healing Wounds to their favorite lists and telling me to update. Seriously, without these reminders I would have totally forgotten, so thank you so much. NOW! You've been waiting for long enough! TO THE STORY!

* * *

It felt way too long since Sam's voice rang in her ears. It probably wasn't as long as it felt, but she was relieved nonetheless. Seeming to forget herself she just sat there in silence, breathing slowly. The other involved party wasn't as distracted. "Hello?" Sam knew what it was, his tone screamed 'why did you call if you weren't going to talk' and 'are you okay' all at the same time. It was an interesting tone.

"Hmm... sorry! I didn't realize you responded..." Laughing weakly there was another long silence and a heavy sigh on the other end. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault. Are you okay?" Since she obviously didn't feel like answering his tone, so he'd ask outright.

"Fine." Lie. Another sigh followed.

"You know-"

"I'm not okay. Alright? I'm in a place I don't like, around people I don't know..." Her voice broke and she cleared her throat. There was movement outside of her door and she frowned, sniffing the air.

"Sam?"

"Hmmm?"

"Where are you right now?" The door opened and there was a soft click of the other end of the phone going dead as Sam entered the room.

"Honestly? Hell." He responded and watched as she set her phone down on her lap.

"How long?"

"Just got here. I probably shouldn't have shown up because Da wants to keep the not-so-neutral parties uninvolved in your recovery." Candi was confused, but Sam guessed she would be. She was unconscious when he and Adam were fighting over her. Instead of elaborating, he shrugged, so she dropped it. She didn't feel good as it was, so she wasn't going to pressure him for details that really didn't matter. So instead, she just pressed on.

"So, why are you here?"

"I was worried." Another short answer. It was Candice's turn to sigh dramatically. Sam just rolled his eyes and sat down on the edge of the bed, comfortable because he'd already surveyed the room. Not he was just going to try and make her feel better.

"So, who stripped you?" Making a strangled noise she slid back onto the bed, pulling the covers over her head.

"I don't want to know."

"Hmmm... I'm sure that they didn't cop a feel or anything."

"That's not even funny!" He thought it was.

"You want to get back into your clothes." Watching a short nod under the blankets he clicked his tongue and slid off of the bed again. Walking over to the pile he picked it up and tossed it lightly on the bed. Spotting something in between the folds of fabric he leaned in just as the mixed blood started to show her face.

"Sam! You can't watch me change!" Not even bothering to verbally respond to her he waved the piece of paper in her face before bringing it to his nose, sniffing quietly.

"Hmm... here. I found this."

Tilting her head, Candice took the piece of paper and followed him in sniffing it. Pulling back she wrinkled her nose. It was a faint and disgusting smell. She'd smelled it somewhere before but since it was so faint she couldn't pinpoint it. Unfolding it carefully her eyes went wide and she went pale. Feeling the food she'd recently eaten starting to come up she scrambled out of the bed, tossing the paper in the process. Rolling off of the bed onto all fours she started to get up, but her impatient stomach caught her first and she heaved, the food coming up on the floor.

"Candi?!" Sam grabbed the paper as the door burst open, the smell of panic and fear so thick in the room it could be tasted. Anna hurried over to the girl and knelt down next to her, her Omega powers kicking in.

"What happened?" Looking to Sam for an explanation he looked as clueless as she did before he slowly opened the paper back up.

The image was graphic. Blood was splattered all over the walls, various limbs in clumps on the floor, a foot here, a hand there. He didn't see any torso. But there was a head, and it was staring straight at him. The eyes were hollow. Frowning he searched his memory to try and figure out if he knew this person. He couldn't say that he knew this person who was, from the shape of the face, definitely male. He heard another heave and another person hurried in. Tucker. Looking back at the picture he frowned and folded it up, pocketing it.

"Did you know this person?" She was visibly shaking. Another heave. He didn't know if he should take it as a yes or a no, so he took it as a maybe. He'd have to ask again after she'd calmed down and got over the shock. Even if she didn't know him, it was a horrifying scene. Something ripped that male apart. Leaving the room without another room, Tucker carefully maneuvered around him to get back in the room, having left to get something to clean up her lunch with.

Walking down the hall quietly he pulled the picture out of his pocket again. Clicking his tongue in irritation he stared at it. Who was this person? How did this picture get in her things? If she had it before without knowing it, how long had it been there? Most importantly: who put it there? Deciding to talk to his father about it, he headed quietly for the room where his father seemed to be rocking in a chair.

Knocking once he pulled the door open and headed in. Bran was sitting near the window, actually standing. He was rocking on his heels and the wooden floor under his feet was creaking, not a chair.

"Da."

"What's going on?" His body was rigid and he was keeping himself turned away from Sam. Holding the paper, no, picture, out he nodded his head toward it, even though his father couldn't see it.

"This was found in Candi's clothes." Turning partially toward his son he took the paper and looked at it quietly before frowning.

"Someone's trying to scare her."

"Well that's obvious."

"Don't misunderstand. Look." Pointing at the top left hand corner of the image he passed it back to Sam, who then examined it.

"No way."

"I'll talk to her. Come with me. We have to find out what's going on. No one has so many bad things happen all at once coincidentally."

Same frowned, not liking the idea but he couldn't say that she shouldn't be asked. After all, there were words painted in blood in the back corner of the frame, and they were definitely for her:

_Hello Candice._


End file.
